Bedard aiming to show Astros he's still got it

Erik Bedard is trying to recapture the form that helped him win 28 games for the Orioles in 2006-07.

Erik Bedard is trying to recapture the form that helped him win 28...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Erik Bedard was used to being creative.

Being a major league starting pitcher and spending the offseason in snowy Ottawa isn't the simplest of combinations. Bedard had thrown inside his uncle's chicken farm before, firing off fastballs on a sticky floor that was cleaned every 45 days.

While the Astros tweaked their revamped 2013 roster and Bedard weighed offers - including a potential deal with his home-country Toronto Blue Jays - the Ontario winter produced some seriously sub-zero temperatures.

Bedard, 33, knew the upcoming season was crucial to his career. In Baltimore, the 6-1, 200-pound lefthander had been one of the most promising young pitchers in the game, going a combined 28-16 from 2006-07 with 392 strikeouts in 3781⁄3 innings and finishing fifth in the 2007 American League Cy Young voting. Since then, he has gone just 23-30, including a 7-14 mark and 5.01 ERA with Pittsburgh in 2012, which resulted in his being released by the Pirates at the same time a club with 20 consecutive losing seasons began another late-season nosedive.

More Information

Erik Bedard file

Position: Starting pitcher.

Bats/throws: Left.

Vitals: 6-1, 200 pounds.

Age: 33.

From: Navan, Ontario, Canada.

Drafted: Sixth round of amateur draft by Baltimore in 1999.

MLB seasons: 9.

Teams: Baltimore, Seattle, Boston, Pittsburgh.

Astros contract: Non-roster training camp invite.

Bedard believed he still had more. His fastball had fallen off, but his curve and changeup were still strong, and the nine-year veteran had learned enough from three frustrating seasons in Seattle - picking up tips from crafty lefty Jason Vargas and pitching coach Carl Willis - to feel confident he could extend his career into the end of the decade by becoming a classic stop-and-go pitcher.

Stuck inside during another unrelenting Canadian winter, Bedard adapted. He focused on cardio and weight-lifting during the morning. Then the real work began. Bedard walked to a plastic pitching mound inside his 70-foot heated garage, waited for his 30-year-old brother Mark to get off work at 4 p.m., and finally started hurling. By the end of Bedard's garage run, it was minus-20 degrees in Ottawa.

"It was a little different," Bedard said with a dry smile.

He was ready for a new season. And the Astros were ready for him.

With the team seeking a veteran starter for the back end of a young, unproven rotation, Bedard appeared on the Astros' radar soon after the club began evaluating its offseason free-agent possibilities. The Blue Jays presented Bedard with playoff potential and a Canadian pull. But Toronto's stacked rotation - led by 2012 National League Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey - meant Bedard would likely end up competing for mop-up innings.

The Astros are chest deep in a top-to-bottom overhaul of the organization. Factor in Bedard's familiarity with the American League West - the Astros' new home - and the non-risk of a make-good minor league deal, and it was a win-win for both sides.

Bedard can restart his career on a rebuilding team. The Astros have a possible No. 4 or No. 5 starter who still hits the low 90s with his primary pitch and has learned to maximize his arsenal by throwing his changeup more, working the corners and mixing speeds at different points in the strike count.

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"That's exactly why we signed him. You look at his career, and he's pitched at a high level," said first-year Astros manager Bo Porter. "We believe that he's going to be 'that guy.' He's here, he has an open mind, he's enthusiastic about the opportunity, and we're just happy to have him."

Tuesday, Bedard was still trying to fit in. One of baseball's better lefthanders from 2006-07 dually laughed and went blank-faced when a media member confused him with fellow journeyman pitcher Philip Humber, asking Bedard about his standout college career at Rice.

Wednesday made more sense. Bedard threw off a mound for the first time and was one of 10 pitchers and catchers chosen to speak with Porter during a private team leadership meeting.

Bedard acknowledged he'll simply move on from the Astros if he doesn't make the club out of spring training. But the team needs him, and he needs a new start. And Bedard has no intention of returning to snowy Ottawa - or ending his up-and-down career - any time soon.

"I love baseball. … I don't think it'll ever go away. I'm going to play as long as I can and only stop when someone tells me I can't play," Bedard said. "I've always loved the game, and it's still fun. Who doesn't want to play baseball for their job?"